Sieve and riddle for separators.



No. 747,231. PATENTED DEC. 15, 1903. W. N. RUMELY.

SIEVE AND RIDDLE FOR S'EPARATORS.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. a, 1903.

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PATENT-ED DEC. 15, 1903. W. N. RUMELY.

SIEVB AND RIDDLE FOR SEPARATORS.

N0 MODEL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1903.

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WE TATW Patented December 15, 1903.

stunt FFlClEt WVILLIAM N. RUMELY, OF LAPORTE, INDIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,231, dated December 15, 1903.

Application filed January 3, 1903. Serial No. 137,665. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM N. RUMELY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Laporte, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sieves and Riddles for Separa-' tors, of which the following isaspecification.

In most separators and threshing-machines the separating sieves or screens are not equally acted upon at all points by the blast, the unequal distribution of the current being due to the construction usually employed. In this construction the fan draws its fresh air in at the ends of its casing and discharges it at an opening extending across the machine, the consequence being that the major portion of the air is driven out by the fan before it has moved from the end of the fan-casing to its center, so that the sides of the sieve are acted upon by stronger currents than the center portions thereof. My present invention is intended mainly to remedy the ill effects caused by this unequal distribution of the blast, and I accomplish this end by dividing the sieves longitudinally into sections and providing each section with an independent and adjustable regulating device whereby the size of the openings therein may be varied according to the strength of the blast as well as according to the work being done.

The invention consists in the novel construction hereinafter described.

The accompanyingdrawings,for1ningapart of this specification, show at Figure 1 a plan of my improved sieve, at Fig. 2 an end elevation thereof, at Fig. 3 a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, at Fig. 4 a section on the line 4: 4 of Fig. 3, at Fig. 5 a partial enlarged plan of the adjustable part of the sieve, at Fig. 6a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5, and at Fig. 7 a cross-section of one of the stationary slats.

In said drawings, 10 represents the outside frameof the sieve, and 11 11 are interior longitudinal strips dividing the sieve into four or other desired number of longitudinal sections. The body of the sieve is formed of transverse metal slats 12 12, which are preferably formed from light sheet metal bent as shown at Figs. 3 and 7, with one edge turned down and the other edge doubled under the body of the slat. This construction renders the slat very stiff, while at the same time it is very light. The division-pieces are secured to the top of the ends of the frame, as will be understood from Figs. 2, 3, and 4:, and the slats are spaced at equal distances apart, the spaces being such as to permit the use of the widest opening required in ordinary operations. Each of the longitudinal sections is provided with its own device for regulating the width of the spaces between the slats, so that the current may be measurably controlled in the different sections, the sides which have heretofore received more than their share of the blast being shut off to a greater extent than the center sections. Each regulating device consists of a series of gates, which are short pieces of fiat metal extending parallel with the slats and from side to side of the section. Each gate has a horizontal portion 15 and a depending portion 16 adapted to intercept the blast and direct it upward through the space in which the gate is located. The gates are preferably made of separate pieces and united together by strips 17, also of fiat metal, the strips being doubled longitudinally and placed over the ends of the horizontal portions of the gates and secured thereon by pinching the metal of the strips. The strips 17 extend into longitudinal offsets 18, formed in the sides of the division-strips, and into the strips 19, mounted on the side pieces of the frame. Over the series of gates is a strip or bar 20, to which each of the gates is preferably secured by riveting or otherwise, and by means of this bar the series are moved unitedly in widening or narrowing the slat-openings.

For the purpose of adjusting the regulating devices of all the sections simultaneously, which is desirable at times, I connect the bars 20 to a rock-shaft 21 by means of arms 22, fast on the shaft, blocks 23, having verti cal slots 24, in which pins 25, carried by the arms 22, Work, and plates 26, secured to the bars 20 and supporting the blocks. Any working of the shaft 21 with this construction will cause the shifting of all the regulating devices, affecting all the sections alike. Through the shaft I also lock the regulating devices in their adjusted positions, this being effected by any mechanism which holds the shaft stationaryas, for instance,the stationary quadrant 27the arm 28 on the end of the shaft having a bolt 29 at its outer end, whereby the arm may be locked in any position in the slot of the quadrant.

In order that each of the regulating devices may be independently adjusted, so as to enable them to open or close the slat-spaces to a greater or less extent than the other regulating devices, I make the block 23 adjustable lengthwise of the plates 26, the attachment being by means of bolts 30, passing through elongated slots 31 in the plates.

By means of the independent adjustment of the regulating-gates I am enabled by closing those of the side sections to a greater extent than the center sections to force the blast to the latter and to a greater extent than has heretofore been possible. This is very desirable, because as a rule the major portion of the material is upon the center sections, and consequently in previous constructions has not been as efficiently separated as the portion which passes overthe sides of the sieves.

By making the gates of separate pieces of metal and uniting them by the binding-strips 17 I am enabled to utilize in the manufacture of the gates scrap metal, and thereby cheapen their cost.

1. The sieves or screens for separators and go threshing-machines, divided longitudinally into sections each of which is provided with its own adjusting device for regulating the size of the openings therein, the sieve or screen also having an adjusting device common to all the sections and whereby all the sections may be adjusted simultaneously.

2. The sieves or screens for separators and threshing-machines, divided longitudinally into sections each of which is provided with its own adjusting device for regulating the size of the openings therein, the sieve or screen also having a locking device common to all the sections and whereby they may all be locked in their adjusted positions.

3. The sieve having the cross -slats 12 formed of light sheet metal with one longitudinal edge doubled upon itself and the other bent at right angles," in combination with gates having both a horizontal and an inclined portion, and means for adjusting the gates on the slats.

WILLIAM N. RUMELY.

Witnesses:

HARRY HILL, H. D. BLIoK. 

